Councilman Dwight Stigler and I will host this special meeting. Everyone is invited, but we urge all neighborhood association leaders to attend. We’ll discuss several timely topics, but police specialists will be with us to address the recent flurry of night-time vehicle break-ins in the Wescott/Farm/and Coosaw neighborhoods.

_________________________________________________________

Our Busy City – This note from a friend and constituent who lives in Wescott offers a point we will appreciate:

“Thanks for making the crime reports and more information about out city so easily available. What most of us do not appreciate is how many family entertainment activities are available in North Charleston. The city’s web site provides good information and it’s interesting to see how the list of events and activities change each day.”

It’s true – our city is a vibrant community that offers many activities related to art and recreation. From the performances of “Wicked” at the Performing Arts Center to softball for seniors, to art displays and instruction, to the regular meetings of city council, North Charleston is a busy city.

The mayor’s staff has done a great job updating the city’s web site which features a detailed calendar of events and the agendas for most public meetings.

The city expects thousands from all over the Southeast to experience art of all kinds and competitions. The festival began thirty years ago as a small, one day, community celebration at Park Circle and now includes nine days of events throughout the City. There will be many neighborhood displays – like the one The Courtyards at Wescott will erect along the common property areas on Asycough Road. The Festival is one of the most comprehensive arts festivals in the state, earning it recognition as a Top 20 Event by the Southeast Tourism Society. Get a preview, make your plans @ http://northcharlestonartsfest.com/home-2/

Misc…..

Yes, the Steel City Pizza temporary signs have been up long enough. We’re working to get them removed.

Yes, there will be a “Dog Park” at the new Wescott ball field complex. Last week, at a City Council meeting, Mayor Summey reiterated this and declared, “And it won’t be just any dog park!”

Yes, there are plans moving forward to finish the re-striping of Patriot Boulevard from Appian Way to Ashley Phosphate. And longer term, there are conceptual plans for a divided median and landscaped shoulders.

Yes, there are ongoing conceptual discussions about a City of North Charleston-Dorchester County joint initiative to develop a Community Complex at the corner of Appian Way and Patriot Boulevard, at the entrance to Fort Dorchester High School. The concept being tested is a large public library that would be used by the school during the day (and thus freeing up space at Fort Dorchester), a joint city police and county sheriff police station, an EMS squad center, and a public meeting space. ….all in a park-like setting. This is in an early conceptual stage. I would welcome your comments and I will keep you posted.

How large is the city’s annual budget? It’s just at $89 million for the current fiscal year. Next year’s budget review process begins for City Council next week.

How many employees does our city have? On any given day, 1100. Roughly half are firemen and policemen.

Remember, daily police / crime reports and much more information available at www.ronbrinson.com

And please contact me with your questions, comments and counsel. And please tell your neighbors and friends who might like to receive these “Updates” to contact me and we’ll add them to the mailing list. rbrin@aol.com

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – The City of North Charleston’s Cultural Arts Department is pleased to announce that works by local artist Elena Barna will be on exhibit at the North Charleston City Gallery from May 1-31, 2012. Barna, winner of the 2012 North Charleston Arts Festival Design Competition, will display works in acrylic and oils featuring a variety of subjects, including her winning piece, My Muse. The public will have the opportunity to meet the artist at the gallery during the North Charleston Arts Festival Main Event on May 5, from 10am to 4pm, and May 6, from 2pm to 5pm.

Titled Expanding the Horizon, Barna’s first solo exhibition strives to show viewers the many sides of her art. Works on display showcase the breadth of her inspirations and will include portraits, still lifes, and nature scenes. “The first and major inspiration for my art is people,” Barna explains. “I’ve done some body painting in the past and have translated that process onto canvas.” Viewers will enjoy portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Bob Marley, as well depictions of the artist’s friends and family. Other portraits share the same style and inspiration as her winning design, featuring a beautiful woman disappearing into a mosaic atmosphere.

Another prominent source of inspiration for the artist comes from her homeland, Russia. “I’ve done some work with Russian old style painting,” she says. “In general it’s flowers and some flowery designs mainly inspired by masterpieces by Russian artist Mikhail Vrubel.”

Barna’s style is heavily inspired by the Impressionism and Post-impressionism art movements, as well as Art Nouveau. She cites Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Monet, Degas, and Alphonse Mucha as artists she admires. Preferring to work in acrylic and oil, her work features vivid colors, thick application of paint, distinctive brush strokes, and realistic subject matter, mainly people. Form and color are central to her aesthetic and shimmering surfaces and rich dabs of paint characterize her paintings.

Born in 1987 in Volgograd, Russia, Elena Barna came to Charleston in 2008 to work for the summer and learn about life in America. To her surprise, she fell in love with the city, the Carolina Lowcountry, and resident Josh Barna. After returning home to complete her education and the long process of legal immigration, Elena and Josh were married following her return to Charleston in 2009. She currently lives and works in North Charleston with Josh and their bull mastiff, Phoenix.

The North Charleston City Gallery is located in the Charleston Area Convention Center with free parking and admission during regular Convention Center operating hours 9:00am-5:00pm, daily. Inquiries regarding the artist or purchase information may be directed to the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department at (843) 740-5854. For information on additional exhibits, programs, and events, visit the Cultural Arts section of the City’s website at www.northcharleston.org. For information about the North Charleston Arts Festival visit www.NorthCharlestonArtsFest.com.

Nearly 100 persons each day check the daily crime report at www. ronbrinson.com Please continue to visit this site which is a collaborative effort with Councilman Dwight Stigler to provide a “quick stop” summary of City of North Charleston news and resources, including meeting notices and agenda content.

And please share your suggestions on how this site can be more useful to you.

____________________________________________________________________

C.B. “Mitch” Mitchell is the newest member of the North Charleston Housing Authority. This agency governs the important work of our city’s public housing program which includes North Park Village, formerly George Legare Homes, and the opening of the newly built Three Oaks, Liberty Hill Place and Buskirk Street Housing for the Elderly. Get to know your housing authority at http://www.nchashousingauthority.com/about.asp

Mitch Mitchell had a distinguished career as a U.S. Army officer and then a second outstanding career as a senior executive in the data technology and logistics management field. “Retired” now, he and his wife Vivian live in Coosaw Creek. As Mayor Summey noted when he announced Mr. Mitchell’s appointment, “We are fortunate and very grateful that someone of his background and experience is willing to serve our city.”

Congratulations —-and THANKS, Mitch !!

Are you interested in sharing talents, skills and experience by serving on one of our city’s various boards, commissions and committees? Let us know ! You can get a feel for these agencies and their mission by searching around the city’s website http://www.northcharleston.org/

CODE ENFORCEMENT

A caring community notices litter and trash, and my Council colleagues Ed Astle, Dwight Stigler and I receive numerous complaints about unkempt properties. The City’s Code Enforcement department often joins our efforts. Recently the Appian Way Apartments received a code enforcement ticket related to litter, trash and unmaintained conditions. The ticket implies a fine of $1,040 and a court date is set for mid-April.

The public works department will soon begin to complete the lane restriping of Patriot Boulevard from Appian Way to Ashley Phosphate. The city also is working with S.C. E. & G to design and install street lights in this section of Patriot Boulevard. Councilman Astle also has asked for striping of Appian Way, from Dorchester Road to Patriot Boulevard.

In Charleston Park, look for a new speed limit sign on outbound Trump, near the wetlands bridge. There have been several accidents at Chateau Lane and Trump at The Vistas. Property managers also have been cooperative in cutting the natural grasses in the second median to provide better sight lines for merging traffic. If speed controls and these line-of-sight improvements don’t help,the city will likely install a stop sign at outbound Trump and Chateau Lane.

Also, I offer another assurance that the City legal team is working to apply agreements related to commitments to install a traffic signal at Trump and Dorchester Road. The good news is, of course, that the S.C. Department of Transportation has concluded that traffic counts now warrant a signal. I regularly ask for an update on the legal processes and hope to have good news about this very soon.

Happy Birthday, North Charleston !

Our city celebrates its 40th anniversary June 12 !

Today, North Charleston is the third largest South Carolina city and any day now, our population will top 100,000. It’s a remarkable story of an unincorporated community becoming a small 10-square block section near Park Circle. North Charleston now encompasses 76 square miles.

Like wild weeds, political signs again are sprouting all over public rights-of-ways. The primary elections are in June and the general election in November. So we’ll see this orgy of signage for a long, long time. We should not blame the candidates because signage has become a requisite of running for office. But it is interesting that all signs on public rights-of-way are technically illegal, but so many political seasons have honed a tolerated cycle of “free speech” — tacky and ugly as it is. At a recent City Council meeting, I joined with several of my colleagues in a “discussion” about controlling these signs with an enforcement program that would limit their presence to 30 days before an election. It was a noble effort for sure, but a complete failure. The initiative did not receive sufficient support among the mayor and city council. So the only control we can count on now is that the signs must be removed a week after the election.

Mystery Solved….. If you noticed it, you were immediately confused. Street signs on Patriot Boulevard suggest well, maybe it’s not a “Boulevard”. For example, at the busy intersection of Wescott Boulevard and Patriot, this sign – and all the signs in the FARM — tell us Patriot is a “Parkway” not a “Boulevard.”

So is it a Boulevard in some sections and a “Parkway” in others?

This nice little mystery is now solved ! After an investigation and records search, it has been determined that Patriot is, in fact, a “Boulevard’ –from one end to the other.

Yes, the “Corner at Wescott” project is alive and presumably well. This project at Dorchester and Wescott Boulevard is perhaps better known as the “Harris Teeter” project. The developer reported over the weekend that site clearing should begin in late June.

The City’s Cultural Arts Department will host its annual Spring Art and Fine Craft CoOp Gallery and Sale at the Meeting Place each Friday and Saturday from April 6 through May 26. The annual pop-up gallery and temporary artist cooperative is dedicated to presenting works by many Lowcountry artists of varied backgrounds in a diverse array of media and styles, from representational to contemporary, in both two and three dimensions. All pieces on display will be available for sale. Artwork ranges from original oils, watercolors, and mixed media, to photography, fused glass, prints, note cards, and more. Participating artist include Dorothy Allston Rogers, Sherri Bardsley, James Black, Jack Devlin, Kate Fortney, Jeffrey Hair, Michael Kaynard, Muriel Lanciault, Keller Lee, Karol-Ann Skelly, Francina Smalls-Joyner, Denise Spates, and Vordai.

The artists will host a free public reception on Wednesday, May 9, from 5:00-8:00pm during the annual Art Walk in the Olde Village area of North Charleston. Both the Art Walk and the Art and Fine Craft CoOp are components of the 2012 North Charleston Arts Festival, held May 4-12.

The Meeting Place is at 1077 East Montague Avenue in the Olde Village and parking is free. CoOp gallery hours are Fridays and Saturdays, 11:00am-7:00pm. Direct inquiries about this exhibition and other exhibition opportunities to the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department at 843)740-5854.

Please contact me anytime I can help you with city services or to share your advice and counsel. And please help me pass the word that anyone can receive these District 4 updates. Just send me the e mail address I can be reached at rbrin@aol.com

The North Charleston Farmers Market will open Thursday, April 19, 2012 from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm in its new location at 1055 East Montague Avenuein the Olde Village of North Charleston off of Park Circle. The market will be open every Thursday until mid-October.

The City of North Charleston’s annual Farmers Market includes a number of local farmers and growers selling local produce, free-range poultry & beef, and locally caught seafood. Local vendors will be on hand offering arts and crafts, and even gourmet dog treats.

Each week the City’s Cultural Arts Department features a performance or artist to showcase. Musical performances on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Thursday of each month and art demonstrations on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month.

On April 19, Michael Wolk will be featured, playing live acoustic music from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm.

Wescott Commons is a new subdivision coming soon to the Wescott Plantation area. The subdivision will be located off of Ballentine Drive next to Sandpines subdivision and just before you enter the Woodlands subdivision. Homes will be priced from $140k to $200k. Construction is expected to begin this summer.

I would like to thank the neighborhood HOA Presidents, and residents, from across our District that participated in the numerous meetings over the past month and a half. Together we were able to create the victory that we had at City Council last Thursday. This victory resulted in a last minute compromise from the Developer to improve the traffic flow and road ingress/egress. We surely would have lost this fight to preserve our quality of life in our District without your help.

_____________________________________________________

DUNKIN DONUTS

We have a new Dunkin Donuts coming to our area. It will be located by the Waffle House near the Kangaroo Station on Dorchester Road. Dorchester County Council has an agenda item this week to approve water and sewer service to this parcel.

_____________________________________________________

NORTH CHARLESTON CULTURAL ARTS DEPARTMENT

There are all kinds of programs, for all ages, put on by the Cultural Arts Department. Many of these event notices are posted on my website. There are art workshops, classes, camps, exhibitions, performances, and special events. Also, there are teaching and artist opportunities for those with that wonderful creative talent. To find out more go to: http://www.northcharleston.org/residents/Departments/Arts/default.aspx

The North Charleston Arts Festival will be May 4-12!!

Contact the Department directly to receive their emails by calling 740-5854 or email them at culturalarts@northcharleston.org. Tell them I referred you. _____________________________________________________

TREES REPLANTED ALONG WESCOTT BLVD

Last week North Charleston planted the missing trees in the median of Wescott Blvd. There were about 8+ trees that had been run over by cars during the past few years that had never been replaced.

_____________________________________________________

SCE&G LIGHT POLES ALONG WESCOTT BLVD

The light poles that were leaning significantly along Wescott Blvd. have been straightened by SCE&G.

_____________________________________________________

THE CORNER AT WESCOTT

The Corner at Wescott is still on track for development to begin late June or early July. We should have the Marshals by November and the Harris Teeter by December. I was also informed that a Moe’s Restaurant and a Starbuck Cafe will be part of the shopping center.

_____________________________________________________

WEBSITE & DAILY NEWS

Go to my website www.ronbrinson.com for daily posts. Councilman Brinson and I have designed this to be a one-stop resource for the daily crime report and links for useful information about our city. Additionally, I am on Facebook and I periodically post updates there.

_____________________________________________________

Tell your friends and neighbors, about my newsletters and my website so they can get the help and information they need. Only a small fraction of you in our District are receiving this. I need your help to get the word out! I am here to serve so feel free to forward this email to them and encourage them to send me an email. I will add them to my newsletters and try to answer any questions they may have.

Thank you for contacting me with your advice, concerns, feedback, or requests. Please continue to do so!

We had quite a lively meeting this evening at North Charleston City Hall. We received a last minute compromise from the Developer that was acceptable to the constituents representing our neighborhoods and by City Council.

We would not have achieved this victory without those that participated in the meetings over the past couple of months. Thank you for trusting me as your public servant, for your wisdom, advice, guidance, and for helping me protect our quality of life in this area. I am proud to serve you, this was a tough fight for our area, and we should all be proud that we were able to accomplish this together. Before I cast my vote this evening and signaled to my fellow Council Members how we should vote collectively, I asked our residents in attendance if they found tonights proposal acceptable. Your input tonight determined the outcome of the vote; I graciously had the support of my fellow Council Members to vote either for, or against, the new compromise put before us. They were also listening and supporting you. Fortunately we were left with a great last minute compromise to accept.

The outcome was that the Developer agreed to give up one lot to create a new curb cut that would become the only exit from the new subdivision. This exit lane would be lined up to the existing Sandpines intersection at W Liberty Meadows Drive. Additionally, the two outermost curb cuts would be entrances only. North Charleston also will install two solar powered blinking lights at the exit intersection.

Thank you for your support and help with this process. We can accomplish a lot together!

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – Fine artists and professional and amateur photographers ages 18 and up are invited to participate in the annual North Charleston Arts Festival Judged Fine Art and Judged Photography Competitions and Exhibitions, which will be on display throughout the Charleston Area Convention Center Complex May 4-12, 2012. Cash prizes are awarded for winning entries. Details for participation are available for download on the Applications page at www.NorthCharlestonArtsFest.com. The deadline for submissions is 7:00pm on Thursday, May 3, for photography, and noon on Friday, May 3, for fine art. Entry fees are $5 and $10, respectively.

Fine artists may submit work in 5 categories: Acrylic, Oil, Drawing/Pastel, Watercolor, and Mixed Media. Entries will compete for cash prizes totaling up to $4425. Awards are at the sole discretion of the juror, Kimberly H. Spears. As the Executive Director of the Anderson County Arts Council, Ms. Spears oversees the rotating gallery exhibitions in the Anderson County Arts Center. She has served as juror for art exhibitions around the state.

Photographers may submit work in the Professional/Advanced division or Amateur division under the categories of Color or Monochrome. Entries will compete for cash prizes totally up to $1450 and are judged using the Photographic Society of America Print Guidelines. Scoring is done by three competent judges in the field of photography who will score entries using the 3-9 range of scores. Each judge will evaluate each entry as a whole, considering the areas of Impact, Composition, and Technique. However, there is no specific weighting or allotment of points for each category. This system is used efficiently and effectively by many councils, at international exhibitions, and by camera clubs. It allows an adequate qualitative separation of entries while lessening the potential for a large number of the higher scoring entries having identical scores. In the event of a tie-breaker, judges will choose the winning entry.

Awards for both competitions will be announced at an artist reception on Friday, May 4, from 6:00-7:00pm at the Charleston Area Convention Center, located at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. Exhibition viewing times are Saturday, May 5, 10:00am – 4:00pm; Sunday, May 6, 2:00pm – 5:00pm; Monday through Friday, May 7-11, 9:00am – 5:00pm; and Saturday, May 12, 9:00am – 12:00pm.

The North Charleston Arts Festival, scheduled May 4-12, is one of the most comprehensive arts festivals in the Lowcountry, providing thousands of residents & visitors with a fabulous array of performances, exhibitions, and activities. The Main Event, held the first weekend in May, offers free admission and parking to over 40 performances on four stages. Other Main Event activities include exhibitions, a gem and mineral show, an antique show, children’s activities, art and crafts booth, and food court. The Arts Festival continues with over 50 free or moderately priced ticketed events throughout the week at various locations and concludes with fireworks over the Cooper River at the Grand Finale at Riverfront Park.

For more information about the North Charleston Arts Festival, or to download applications for the Judged Fine Art and Photography Competitions and Exhibitions, visit www.NorthCharlestonArtsFest.com. For more information about other exhibition opportunities, visit http://bit.ly/culturalarts or call the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department office at 843-740-5854.

II. Minutes: Consideration of the March 12, Planning Commission Minutes

III. Bills:

A. Proposed annexation/rezonings of the properties located at 9289, 9295, 9301, and 9309 Black Bottom Road (TMS #390-00-00-053, 155, 156, & 239) from Charleston County’s zoning to M-1, Light Industrial along with a concurrent proposal to change the Comprehensive Development Future Land Use Map designation from Single- Family, Suburban to Light Industrial.

B. Proposed rezoning of the properties known as Trailwood Mobile Home Park located at 5554 Trailwood Drive and 5400 Dorchester Road (TMS #409-00-00-007 and TMS #408-00-00-002) from R-3, Mobile Home Residential to M-1, Light Industrial.

Proposed rezoning of the property located at 5552 Trailwood Drive (TMS #408-00-00-003) from B-1, Limited Business to M-1, Light Industrial.

Proposed rezoning of the properties located at 5502 and 5560 Dorchester Road (TMS #408-00-00-004 & 005) from B-2, General Business to M-1, Light Industrial.

Proposed rezoning of the property located at 5584 Dorchester Road (TMS #408-00-00-055) from split zoned B-1, Limited Business and R-2, Multi-family Residential to M-1, Light Industrial.

C. Proposed rezoning of the property located at 6405 Fain Street (TMS #475-00-00-009) from M-1, Light Industrial to a PDD, Planned Development to be known as Aviation Commerce Park along with a concurrent proposal to amend the Comprehensive Development Plan Future Land Use Map changing the designation from Conservation to Heavy Industrial.

IV. Subdivision/Variances:

A. Proposed Approval of a Subdivision Variance from the Provisions of Article XVIII, Section 18-52 Paragraph (a) Relating to the Installation of Required Sidewalks for the Property Located at 4105 Faber Place Drive (Blake Rawlins, Holder Properties).

B. Proposed Approval of a Subdivision Variance from the Provisions of Article XVIII, Section 18-52 Paragraph (a) Relating to the Installation of Required Sidewalks for the Property Located at 4257 Domino Avenue (Big Building, LLC).

C. Proposed Approval of a Subdivision Variance from the Provisions of Article XVIII, Section 18-40 Paragraph (a) Relating to the Minimum Lot Area Required for a R-1, Single Family Residentially Zoned Lot Located at 2052 Delaware Avenue (Island Surveying, Inc.).

D. Proposed Approval of a Request to Rename Weber Drive to Ingleside Boulevard.